


Wings of Dreams and Goodbyes

by Lkcsi



Series: Radiant Stars [1]
Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Betrayal, Developing Friendships, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2020-12-14 08:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21013010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lkcsi/pseuds/Lkcsi
Summary: Ever since he was only 11 years old, Duke wanted to escape to the forest. He fulfills this wish of his at 15, and there he meets a strange dragonbird creature that could talk in the language of humans.





	1. Was your heart yearning for freedom?

**Author's Note:**

> Aruwen is a seaside city I just conjured out of the air. Why? Because Zaphias doesn't have a port. The title is also a reference to Sayonara no Tsubasa.

There were rumors that the mountain forest looming near the northern edge of the prosperous city called Aruwen housed a monster as long and as large as the trunk of the bloom-tree of Halure. Said monster was also as powerful as the violent eruptions of a volcano, its claws levelling entire villages in one fell swoop, its roar shaking the very ground upon most things stood upon. It was fearsome, but never left the mountains. One could hear the beating of its wings if the nights were quiet, with nary a chirping cricket.

Duke Pantarei was eleven when he first heard it from one of the maidservants, when she was reprimanding one of the knights, her lover perhaps. The knight had spoken about braving the untouched forests, but this legend had him turn away in favor of staying with her. 

Love, perhaps, was the strongest force in the world. Future tales of glory could not even sway the fancies of his heart.

Duke could not remember why he began thinking of escaping to the mountain forests when he heard that, but he could vaguely recall the two prostrating themselves before him, begging the young heir of the family to keep the knowledge of their affair a secret. He only truly remembered how, in the passage of the years after that, he began regarding the mystical forests as somewhere his soul begged to be.

Life had been dull despite the ornate manor he lived in. He could get whatever material thing he wished with one word, one flick of a finger, but none mattered so much to him. His intelligence was fostered with the best tutors the family could afford. At twelve he already read most of the empire's history books. At thirteen he was considered a prodigy with the sword, and trained hard to quickly master blastia artes too, so fast that within a few months he could already combine some higher artes together in one spell, a development never once attempted before. At fourteen he could already speak to older and more experienced people of power.

It all befit a young man with at least half a claim to the imperial throne, yet since he was eleven he had wanted to escape to the forests, where he could be alone. Where he did not have to see the fake faces and the twisting darkness of human politics, constant barrages of favors and secrets. Simple luxuries such as breathing the fresh air evaded his very existence. He didn't know why he couldn't stand the white noise of the city, why the colors of houses and the cobblestone paths and the sparkling seas hurt his eyes (although having rare red eyes may have a hand in it), why the parades for him grated on his nerves, why his hands would start shaking at the demand to look into the eyes of others. At nights he'd be left alone in his room, and in tears he'd look at the skies and see the brightest star Brave Vesperia, to wish he were it, to see the world for what it truly is.

Beautiful. Away from the suffocation of the manor. Away from Aruwen's painful eye.

At fifteen he fled the manor at the dead of night, keeping his silver-white hair tied up in a bun under a filthy woolen cap he found lying near a bush. He walked a long distance from the center of the city to the direction of the mountains. He crept through the lax security posted at the borders of the city--despite that he made no note of it. The moon shone in the skies as he made his way towards the thick forests, his heart soaring for the first time at the feeling of true freedom. In a heartbeat he rushed into the trees, the chirping insects and the evening's birdsongs lulling him in like a trance.

He saw new things, like gnarled roots of old trees, wild bluebells hanging from their stalks, fruits he only saw in books and drawings. Wonder filled him with every turn and step. Hours passed as he went deeper and deeper, lost, so lost in the beauty of the world.

He forgot all about the myths while he explored a curious clearing, and he had been silently admiring the mushrooms growing near the dead roots of a fallen tree when he heard the hiss and growl of a wolf-like monster behind him. Before he can even think of regretting to bring a sword with him, a louder screech coming from the shadows of nearby trees scared the wolfish monster away, tail between its legs and whimpering.

Duke found himself curled up on the ground with hands over both his ears afterwards, and he only began to push himself up when he felt something nudge his leg. He opened his eyes to find a feathered creature as large as the largest room of his manor, its beaked face close to him and its eyes watching his every move. He startled with a small scream, pushing himself backwards, heart pounding in pure fear.

"Careful, you almost crushed the very same mushrooms you had been regarding passionately."

Duke's jaw was on the ground, his entire body still shaking. _A monster that knows the language of humans?_ "You... speak?"

The feathered being chuckled heartily, the laugh rippling through the feathers which swayed with every move. "I do. You're a peculiar one, entering this forest where, allegedly, a fearsome monster resides. You even have the audacity to not bring a sword or wear armor."

Only then he began to remember the reason why the mountains of Aruwen were best left alone. He let out a small 'eep' when the birdlike thing inched closer. The word 'dragonbird' flashed in his mind, and recalled no books about such a creature. Only sounds of confusion and terror escaped his lips.

"Humans often call those that frighten them 'monster'. I have heard the myth of myself, but it is untrue that I do not leave the mountains. Sometimes I go to the harsh continent known to you humans as Weccea."

"You're the monster in the myths?! You go to Weccea?!"

Another little laugh. "I do go there, and what if I am? Will you run away? Back to your human settlement? With that handsome pale face of yours, and the way you dress, except for that horrid hat that deserves to be cleaned," the creature referred to the deep purple and silver jacket he had worn, "you must be one of the human nobility."

Sorrow seeped in with the fear. He hung his head. "I don't want to go back."

"Did you have a death wish?"

"No. I just wanted to be alone here in the forest."

"Alone?"

"I... feel suffocated with them. They're too much for me. I don't feel like I belong there." He looked down at his pale hands, which were curiously becoming hazy to his sight. "I've never seen the world beyond the walls of the city. I want to be left alone by people who don't seem to say truthful things."

Moments passed, and a giant paw wiped at his face, and only then did he realize he was in tears. He quickly wiped his eyes and stared up at the being.

"Aren't you going to eat me?"

"Eat you?" The tone betrayed an offended feeling. "No. I can't eat humans, anyway." The being then bent its legs and rested its body on the ground, putting its head near the log. "I do not have any wish to harm humans. That's why no monster comes close to the city. I drive them away. You are human, too, so I shall drive away dangerous creatures that will threaten you."

Eventually the pounding of his heart ebbed away, and Duke found himself braver and braver as the minutes passed. With still-quivering hands he reached out to touch the creature's head, fingers gliding across beautiful plumes. Beady black eyes watched him.

"I've never read of a monster that looks like you," he admitted very weakly, and it yielded another laugh from the being.

"That is because no human has been graced to see my kind for ages. I am an Entelexeia."

He paused and blinked. "Emetelexeia?"

"Entelexeia. Give it another try."

"... Etemekeia."

The dragonbird patiently said it another time.

"... Entelexeia?"

"Yes, you got that correctly. As you humans say, third time is the charm." The monster let out a small huff. "My name is Elucifer. Does that alleviate your fear?"

He gave Elucifer a little nod. "I'm Duke Pantarei. Please... call me just by my given name."

"Very well, Duke. Are you tired? You have spent the night hours exploring this forest. I have watched you closely the entire time you were here." 

"I am. But I don't want to go back there. I want to stay here."

"Then rest on my wing," Elucifer said as he lowered his left wing to press flat against the ground. Duke followed, crawling towards the wing and curled up on it. He yawned and snuggled at the warm feathers, and when he closed his eyes, he was already fast asleep.


	2. Was your heart fostering hatred?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Commandant Alvein is a reference to Phantasia, mostly because I couldn't think of any other name that isn't Arthur.

"Do you foster much hatred in your heart?"

That sudden question surprised Duke, that he almost crushed the red berry he had been picking. He made note of the dragonbird's soft voice, and he could imagine that had Elucifer possessed brows, one of them would be raised.

"Why'd you ask that?"

"I have told you the stories of my life, and yet you refuse to tell me yours, aside from that you dislike Aruwen."

"I-It's not like that..." He hung his head, and thought, _maybe I really do have so much hate._

"You do not seem to have fond memories of other humans."

"Not much," was Duke's simple answer. "You know I'm one of the nobility, but I think it's because of my own blue blood that I don't really like living there."

"Do you curse your existence?"

"No, not really. It's just that... you're born into politics and so much wealth that everyone around me wears masks, and I am forced to wear my own too."

Elucifer let out a thoughtful hum. "Do you wear a mask now? Do you speak truth to me?"

Duke couldn't stop himself from pouting, blood rising to his cheeks. "I do! It's... it's very nice to have someone I can speak my true feelings with." He withdrew and went back to Elucifer and sit by his large wing, which brushed lightly against his face as soon as he crossed his legs on the ground. His brows curled down and, pushing the tickly feathered wing away.

"You look positively adorable when your pale face turns pink."

"My face doesn't turn pink!" His voice cracked at the end of the phrase, the extreme best time for it, drawing out a barely-stifled cackle from the Entelexeia.

"Now your face is as red as your own eyes."

Duke only groaned, brought his knees up, and stuck his face down. The same wing smoothed over his hair softly and affectionately.

"You are a unique human. You are like no one I have ever met in my thousand-year lifetime... how interesting."

"Me? Interesting?" Duke dared to face his new odd friend again, pulling his face out of its hiding place. "It's not because I have too much leverage or that I'm a prodigy, right?"

"Heavens no. You already struck me as one of a kind, when you walked right into a forest of danger without protection. As I watched over you, you intended to look at the beauty of the world outside the city, and you certainly did not run when you saw me."

"I'm glad I didn't run away." As he said that he thought to himself how peculiar it was when his legs didn't carry him back to Aruwen immediately, and despite the overt friendliness of this Entelexeia he knew that if things were a little different, he could have sprinted away in terror.

_Do I really hate other people that much, for me not to run away at the sight of unknown danger?_

"I, too."

"Why do you protect humans, if you aren't one of us? You're a powerful being. You could take over the world."

There wasn't even time to count before Elucifer replied. "I find humans so fascinating. Feeble little creatures they are. They cluster themselves together and brave the danger and find ways to overcome their handicaps. They live their lives as uniquely as they could, just like you, who escaped the fangs of your problems and ran here to look at mushrooms."

"Hey, it wasn't just the mushrooms!"

Elucifer just ignored that outburst, instead choosing to continue. "Despite their tragically short lives they hold their own fate, steer it however they like, unlike those like me, who have a duty to the world."

"A duty?"

"Would you like to know of the tales of the very lifeblood of Terca Lumireis? I believe humanity knows of the existence of aer. We Entelexeia are born of aer, and to it we have a task to benefit all living beings on this beautiful world."

Duke didn't answer, so Elucifer turned his head to look at him to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep again. Humans were prone to exhaustion, their frail bodies too weak to contain the wellspring of will within them. He was instead met with bright, sparkling eyes betraying curiosity, hand digging in the makeshift basket full of wild edible berries and coming up to feed a berry to a hungry mouth. He let out a small chuckle, and told him of the various aer krenes scattered all over the world.

/**/

It did take Elucifer many days to convince his new human friend to return to his port city, but he found out very quickly that human fifteen-year-olds, despite living only a fraction of his own life, were as stubborn as a mountain braving the worst of storm's winds. That conviction, he admired greatly. Duke could not be swayed to even set eyes on the city, to even think about it, and the Entelexeia was rapidly becoming more and more worried. Of what, Duke didn't know, but he dearly hoped his new friend, his only true friend, didn't want to chase him out of the forests and be a traitor like most of those he knew. Or maybe it was because his clothes got caught in sharp branches and got torn, and his friend thought it harmed him.

It was only when Elucifer threatened to eat his hair did Duke return begrudgingly. Yet the young human still made it a point that he would return to hear more of his stories, to which Elucifer did nothing aside from chuckle.

"Let's build a house for you by a tranquil hill to the north. You don't deserve to be exposed to the elements as you rest. I think you would quite like how the scenery is," were his last words before his favorite human left to trek back to human settlement with only the little basket of berries.

And what a sight it had been. He could not believe his eyes.

Aruwen was flooded with the Royal Guard, those directly under the Commandant, who in turn was directly under the wishes of the emperor. A contingent of royal knights had already been collecting at the gates of the city, a sea of painful red and gold and silver. Emerging from the bushes Duke began wondering what happened while he was absent. He found the Commandant himself, Alvein, speaking to various captains of the Knights under a tent by the wall, and crept nearer as silently as he could. He could see the profile of his mother dressed in beautiful pink silk, and his heart sank when he saw the way she shuddered and trembled as she held a handkerchief by her face. 

She was weeping, mourning perhaps.

Despite everything he despised in the human world, Duke still loved his mother, and dearly regretted not telling her he ran away. He paid no attention to the bewildered faces of the knight captains and servantpeople as he casually strode inside the tent and straight to the crying woman seated at the back of the tent.

"Mother?"

At the sound of his voice her head slowly turned to him, her bloodshot eyes blinking away the tears to take a closer look at the boy she dearly loved, and quickly enfolded him in her arms. Even though his clothes were soiled in the weeks that he was gone and his face unwashed and dirty, she hugged him, not minding that the dirt would be on her immaculate dress and sleeves. She wailed her son's name and brought her fingers to stroke his tangled hair.

"I'm here, mother. I worried you... I'm sorry." He rested his head on her, embracing her back. 

"We all thought you were gone for good, you couldn't be found here in the city, not even in the shadows, and we all thought you'd been brought to the forests and slaughtered there... are you not a ghost of my mind, tempting me?"

"No. It's me, in the flesh."

"Are you hurt? Did anyone kidnap you? I'm so worried..."

He chose to keep silent, but she cried more, pulling him close and not letting him go. At this display he heard Commandant Alvein's new orders: to encircle the city and the Pantarei manor and keep the heir safe, and eventually he was whisked away back to the manor. A swarm of maidservants attended to him as soon as he set foot in the house, his clothes were quickly peeled off for him to be bathed and then brought to the doctor. Things rapidly became a blur for him, and he finally fell asleep in his quarters, on a soft bed made not of warm feathers.

/**/

He finally officially hated being surrounded.

At least four knights well-versed in blastia artes were tasked to be with him at all times. Armed to the teeth, Duke himself given a bodhi blastia as a final line of defense, the Royal Knights assigned to guard him trailed behind him all the time, only letting him have his privacy when he needed to use the bathroom. Not even his time for sleep could shoo them away. They'd always stand guard by the window and by the door when he sleeps, and he found it irritating at least and horrifying at worst. He'd bury his entire body under pillows and blankets, and it only sent the wrong message to his parents that he was terrified by nightmares of whatever ordeal he'd been forced to be through. And yet he couldn't tell them about the strange Entelexeia he met in the mountain forests, his new friend who'd protected him there while he explored the uncharted mountains.

In no time, Aruwen proved to suffocate him yet again, and he'd find himself missing his friend. He thought of the stories he was told in his stay in the mountains. 

The dazzling stars. The true story of Brave Vesperia, which still enchanted him. How could the brightest star in the sky be a special blastia? How wonderful that ancient humans could send blastia high up in the heavens. 

The tree of Halure. He'd already known that three trees fused together and took the barrier blastia into its being, but hearing Elucifer speak of a presence within the tree piqued his curiosity, and he made a wish to visit Halure whenever he could.

The unexplored continent of Weccea. He heard of winds as harsh as multiple tornadoes swirling around the area, but he also heard about the world's very first lifesrpings. He imagined the magical, soothing green glow his friend would speak about, and the delicate flowers that sprung from the aer itself. He'd take one look in the mirror and remember the teasing words Elucifer would say about those flowers fitting his hair.

The aer krenes found all over the world. He'd been warned not to get too near them without him, because sometimes the krene would pump out too much aer, which spelled death for humans. He remembered gulping at that warning.

The other Entelexeia. Elucifer only talked about one other, Khroma, his daughter. Duke had immediately asked where she came from if not from aer, but a thunderclap stopped his friend from answering.

These thoughts were the only things he could take solace in, and whenever his eyes fell on the forest, he felt pangs of loneliness in his heart.

He didn't know why.


	3. Was your heart beating for someone?

Duke was thankfully allowed to go out in the family gardens on his own, but he knew that the four knights assigned to him were still trailing him, albeit at a larger distance. They fanned out around him. Their eyes were still on him and their swords and magic at the ready should a nonexistent threat arrive.

It pained Duke to think that, at the back of everyone's minds, he was just a frail noble incapable of self-defense. Then what was the purpose of daily swordsmanship training and his achievements on a new kind of arte casting only he can do? He furrowed his brows and huffed, and in a small undignified display of discontent he shot a spark of glittering fire upwards with no true spell in mind, and watched as it dissipated in the middle of the air. The glow of the blastia bangle on his right wrist slowly began to fade, and he turned back to storm back into the manor, ignoring the confused but alerted knights attempting to coax out the 'why' from him.

_Fresh air didn't exist in a human world, that's why_, he thought inwardly with all the bitterness in his soul.

/**/

He woke up the next day to a loud commotion. Well, not exactly loud when one were sleeping under a pillow in his quarters on the second storey. His eyes cracked open to sunlight pouring in his room through the gaps in the curtains, and he groaned, pulling the pillow over his head to cover his face, wanting to come back to the pleasant dream he was having. A dream about an endless meadow to the east where trees were sparse across the seemingly endless sea of grass, ending only in the mountain ranges before the Outer Sea. He dreamed of a house to build there, one made of stone and mortar, with sturdy doors and a thatch roof, and a certain dragonbird creature resting beside it-

Bang. Crash.

There went his drowsiness. Infuriated he slammed his pillow once on his head down and got dressed as quickly as he could, pocketing a comb along the way, combing his shoulder-length hair with only his fingers without a care in the world before taking off to the source of the annoyance: the front gates.

"What on earth has been happening here, disturbing my slumber?" He half-yelled, but kept it held back, but his subordinates all tensed. Two guards were restraining a Krityan man, his long blue hair tussled, but otherwise unharmed. Those deep gray eyes that lit up when he saw Duke tugged at a memory, but he couldn't put a finger on it. 

The family's Captain of the Guard stepped forth and saluted stiffly. "My Lord, we apologize, but this Krityan has been loitering outside the Pantarei manor for hours. In light of your recent disappearance, your father and the Commandant Alvein have ordered your safety, and so we have arrested him."

"I do swear, I am no enemy!" The Krityan spoke, or, the 'Krityan' spoke. That voice...

With widened eyes and a no longer existent fury, Duke almost screeched. "Elucifer? Why are you here?"

Elucifer, curiously in the form of an average Krityan man, smiled crookedly. "Would it suffice to say that I wished to see you?"

"My Lord," interrupted the Captain, "is he someone you know?"

"Well, yes," Duke sighed and waved a hand, "let him in, and please forgive his... lack of courtesy." For a fleeting moment he wondered whether his human-loving Entelexeia friend had mingled properly with humans at all.

"As you wish, milord."

The guards holding Elucifer let go of his arms, and returned to their post by their gates. Duke grabbed his friend's wrist, glared daggers at him, and dragged him in the manor's dining hall, ordering some of the maids to bring breakfast for his friend, only for Elucifer to shake his head.

"I cannot eat food, remember?"

Duke narrowed his eyes at him for a moment before recalling that Entelexeia consumed nothing but aer.

"You need to eat, however."

"It isn't very hospitable of me to eat my breakfast while my friend watches and eats none."

"Then set two plates before us," Elucifer leaned closer, and somehow that ignited a little spark in Duke's soul, "and you can eat my fill. It'll be a secret."

"... that is no behavior of a noble."

"Yet eating two plates seems to be every human's wish."

"Not mine."

"Fine, I will merely pretend to eat."

A maidservant interrupted their conversation when she arrived, pushing a cart with two silver platters and two sets of cutlery. The lid was opened before them and instantly Duke's mouth watered at the sight of berry pudding and some kind of vegetable soup, on which Elucifer immediately commented on.

"The color of the soup looks like the shallow sea."

"Really?" Duke poked at the soup water with his spoon and swirled it around, watching the suspended lentils float around in their watery home.

"Yes," Elucifer grinned, almost laughing like he always seemed to do, before pointing at his hair. "Oh, your hair is a mess. Like when you first left. Did you just come out of slumber?"

Blood immediately rushed to his cheeks. Duke put his hands on his head, helplessly and uselessly trying to cover the strands that stayed upright despite his wishes. He began to smooth his hair his his palms and fingers and swore to himself he'd never show up in front of his only true friend without brushing his hair properly. He quickly fished out the comb in his pocket and began combing furiously through his locks, snagging a stubborn knot and and causing him to wince in pain.

"Haha, did you forget to comb your hair?"

"I most certainly did not!"

"You really are the most amusing human I have ever encountered in my life."

/**/

Elucifer still went back the following few days to visit, still disguised in his Krityan form, and the Pantarei household never suspected a thing despite Elucifer's insistence on not eating. Things were different, with the knights trailing them, but the heir did not regret his decision to run away at all. The time he spent in the months after his disappearance was spent in the manor's library or within his study where he would listen to his dragonbird friend narrate to him stories of the world. Stories of Brave Vesperia's technology. Stories of how his daughter Khroma casts better illusion magic than he himself could. Stories of the aer krene hidden underneath Aruwen. Stories of what blastia is. Stories of the all-devouring menace hidden just beyond reach of humanity. Duke only admitted to having nightmares of watching his friend transform into a monster made of pure dark aer in a hushed whisper.

"I'm afraid you will turn into an Adephagos. I don't want it happening to you."

"For the Entelexeia, there are only two fates that await us at death. Become apatheia or become Adephagos." A not-so-real hand patted on his back. "It'll be a long time before I die. Not in your lifetime. You won't have to suffer."

To those stories that colored his dull, boring world, Duke would open books and show Elucifer the wonders of humanity. He showed him paintings of festivals in the local area. How irrigation works. Theories of how a metal vessel could still float on water, despite Elucifer vehemently denying it. How the waltz is danced.

Duke tried hiding the blush of his face whenever he'd try teaching Elucifer the dance, his hands clammy and shaking, and despite being trained to dance from childhood he always found his feet stepping on and being stepped on by the other's feet.

"Heh. Your hands are quite warm, in spite of the shaking."

"Shut up."

"Have you never danced with someone before?"

"I have!"

"You're so amusing. You're almost as red as the carpet."

"You're... so mean."

Elucifer's laugh began to elicit some tugs on his heart that day.

Months passed both slowly and quickly, and the knights that swarmed the manor disappeared back to Zaphias, until only the noble's guard remained. Duke was already almost turning sixteen when the Commandant's forces completely left after trickling out and away, like sand in an hourglass.


	4. Was your heart skipping a beat?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of this chapter finally ties in with one of my other fics, "Sailing the Skies Again". That fic would be referenced again at the epilogue, by the way.

Elucifer sifted through the wicker basket full of trinkets and jewelry, fingers pushing objects of different shapes and uses away and digging deeper and deeper. His human friend stood dumbly behind him, watching him observe every single one with the utmost attention. No details, not even the most minute, escaped Elucifer.

"How interesting. So many small objects you use."

The shopkeeper was doing a poor job of concealing her confusion about this apparently-Krityan man acting oddly even for the Kritya, yet she still maintained her composure in front of a Pantarei and answered, "Many people like small things. Sometimes they find it cute. These are souvenirs of the city." She picked out a bracelet made of wooden beads. "Would you like this br-"

"Oh, look, this one is formed like a mushroom."

"That is actually the preserved wing of a bat, attached to a chain," Duke quietly pointed out.

"Do you not like mushrooms?"

"I like them, but not to the extent that you imply I do."

"Unfortunate." Elucifer put the mushroom-shaped bat wing down and dug even deeper.

"Just because you found me looking at some the first time we met doesn't mean they are my favorite things in the world."

"Then what is your favorite?"

"... I don't know."

"Then your favorite is mushrooms." He turned back to the woman in the stand and flashed a grin. "Would you be a witness? Duke Pantarei's favorite thing is mushrooms-"

"Don't involve the proprietress."

"I think you should listen to His Excellency," she said. "Have you chosen wares to buy?"

"Not yet."

"Elucifer," Duke tried to stifle a sigh, "you must want something."

"You taught me the concept of window shopping yesterday. I am only practicing what you taught me."

Dumbfounded his brow raised, then he let out a full sigh and rested a hand on his hip. "I was under the impression we were supposed to buy some gifts for my mother's birthday."

"We already have them. I said what I said. I am practicing window shopping."

Another exasperated sigh escaped Duke. His friend really never interacted much with humans. "Something practical would be nice."

"Or we can leave?"

"... that will honestly make me feel bad that we wasted the proprietress' time-"

"No, wait," Elucifer interrupted as gaze suddenly fell on something and he immediately zoomed towards the opposite side of the store. Fake hands immediately reached for a wide-brimmed woven hat, dyed deep midnight blue and gold at the edges of the brim. "I wish to buy this."

"Very well. How much for the hat, miss?" Duke dug in his pocket for gald as the shopkeeper named her price. He paid her the gald, and after a bow from her (Elucifer noticed the slight twitching of Duke's eye at that) and words of thanks the two friends exited the shop.

The harsh light of the sun caused Duke to squint, so he didn't see Elucifer place his newly-bought hat atop his head. He didn't want to believe that he let out a tiny squeak of surprise at the sensation on his head, but Elucifer's little guffaw in response confirmed that he did, indeed, squeak.

Thankfully he didn't tease him for the surprise. "I hope this hat helps you see better under the sun."

"I really don't go out the manor so much," came the groan from Duke, "and the sun hurts my eyes so much."

"You should try going out sometimes. After all, how would you see the world if you are ensnared in your own home?"

"I want to," he replied, a little somberly this time, "but my parents forbid me to stray away. Especially after I ran away last year and met you. I know they care about my safety, but I... want to be able to do things they forbid me from doing."

"Then spend your time here as much as you could. Live in the moment. Whatever little time you have outside, use it all as much as you could."

A wide smile crept on Duke's face. "You're right."

"On the way back, we should visit the nearby garden you mentioned once. The orange orchard?"

"Ah, the Gottwald orchard. The baron's." He paused to think. "I want to visit it."

"While we're on that," Elucifer suddenly began to gesture wildly, hands flying in front of his face, "we should acquire one of those contraptions humans wear on their faces."

"... a mask? Have you gotten wind of a masquerade? I believe there is none-"

"No, it is a mask, but made of dark glass."

"Oh. Sunglasses."

"Yes. That contraption."

Duke snorted in a way no one of blue blood should, but in his rare moments of freedom he allowed himself this luxury. They did pass by a store selling glasses and bought a pair of sunglasses tinted maroon. Chatting and walking the two walked leisurely uphill to where the orchard lay. The iron gates to the orchard were open, but when they strode in, two guards crossed their halberds. Elucifer almost walked through the symbolic barrier, but fortunately Duke caught his arm before his true form crushed the metal weapons.

"None are allowed to enter the orchard. Please turn back or be arrested."

"Ah, apologies." Duke took off the glasses, handed the pair over to Elucifer, and took off his hat. "I had merely wished to visit the orchard. Elucifer, let's go home."

The recognition was clear in the eyes of the helmeted knights. Stiffly they withdrew, saluting. "Son of our Marquess, forgive us for our insolence. You may pass as you wish."

Duke just waved a hand, his face still blank as ever. He failed to notice Elucifer scrutinizing him. "It's nothing. You were only acting according to duty. May I ask if I am permitted to bring a friend of mine inside?"

"Of course! Milord, your wishes shall all be granted."

With a nod he dismissed them. The two guards scuttled back to their original posts at either side of the gate.

"Elucifer, the Baron Gottwald is one of the only people who I am sure has no ill will with regards to me, but it appears his soldiers still fear me as a noble and not as... me."

"I am sure they only wanted to treat you well."

He walked through the gates, friend in tow, and once they went inside the 'Krityan' tapped his shoulder.

"Hm?"

"You never told me your father is a marquess."

"He is. It wasn't of interest to me." Duke just shrugged. "When he dies, I would be Marquess."

"I had thought he'd named you after the title."

"Oh, duke." He looked up at the ripe oranges on the trees as they walked past them, and Elucifer noticed the sudden change in his mood.

"Isn't that one of the highest ranks, under the Prince?"

"I suppose. Dukes still cannot trump the authority of the Knight Commandant, who serves right under the emperor."

"Duke. I thought you were a prince."

That yielded another raised brow from him. "Me? No. If I were, I would have lived in Zaphias, and perhaps even more miserable than I usually am."

"I understand. But..." Elucifer's eyes suddenly became sharp as he eyed his friend from top to bottom, "I could have sworn... that blood..."

"Elucifer, if you had been planning to devour me, you know I wouldn't be very easy to kill." His tone was teasing yet possessed undercurrents of a threat, a threat he wouldn't be willing to act upon at all.

"Oh, no, I don't do that. It's... Duke, are you related to the Imperial family?"

"Yes. Distantly. My mother is the cousin of the emperor's. Royal blood flows through my veins."

"Oh, I see exactly now why the Commandant's forces were guarding your household."

"Yes. It is because of my heritage that I have a claim to the throne. I do not want the throne, however."

"I also see why you asked me, if I liked you only because of your skill and your status. Even if I am an Entelexeia you still had the compulsion to ask me that."

"I am the only one in the Imperial family to be a possible heir to the throne. The Emperor has no children. None of his brothers or sisters still have children, although I heard one of them has a son on the way. Algios, I think."

Elucifer stopped walking, and when Duke faced him, the false Krityan face fell austere. "Duke, have you ever asked yourself why your hair is far lighter than your own mother's or father's?"

"Perhaps I have a different father, then."

Elucifer grimaced at that. "Most of the humans I have met would be upset at the thought of that."

"Not me. I simply don't care."

"Hmm. Have I told you the story of the Child of the Full Moon?"

"I believe not."

"Your ancestors are such Children. Until now their lineage persists... their power seems to have almost manifested in you, but it was not enough..."

"Not enough?"

"Milord!" A third voice, loud from a few paces away and panting, called out, interrupting the conversation. Both turned to see a tall man, dressed in worker's slacks and a white dress shirt, the top buttons left open to stave the heat away, sprinting towards them. 

"That's the Baron," Duke told his friend before fully facing the Baron, who upon reaching the two of them immediately knelt.

"I was not given any notice that you would come, future Marquess."

He still waved a hand, and upon seeing Elucifer almost point his habit out, he spoke. "No, it was a whim. I don't get out of the manor much, and I wished to see your orchard. And please don't kneel like that."

The baron stood. "I'm honored! I have taken care of it to the best of my ability, and now the oranges are ripe for the harvest. I have even joined my workers in the harvest."

"How noble of you."

"I came from a humble background, milord. I mustn't forget my roots. I was only awarded baronship by your father for my sacrifices in my time in the knights." He gestured with his lost hand over his missing eye.

"You deserve your rank. I see you're a humble soul."

"I am even more honored." Gottwald bowed further. "And my loyalty shall forever be to your family." He turned to Elucifer and gave a nod. "And I feel like a donkey that I have not acknowledged the friend of the heir Duke."

"I am Elucifer," he said as he extended a hand out, which Gottwald reluctantly shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"A pleasure to meet you, too. Might I ask where you have come from?"

"I'm Krityan," Elucifer put on a smile, "I'm sure none of us would disclose our origins. A Krityan secret."

"I respect that. How did you meet the heir?"

Duke and Elucifer exchanged glances.

"I was wandering around when I bumped into him in one of my travels. We'd met somewhere near the barrier. I met Duke again just last year, and I have not left since."

"Ah, were you the one who returned him safely to the city?"

Duke spoke first before his friend could even open his mouth. "Let's go with that."

Gottwald let out a breath and his smile grew even warmer. "Thank you for saving him."

"I... well, you're welcome." Elucifer just shrugged, a surprisingly human gesture.

"Please feel free to explore the orchard as you wish." Gottwald left not long after, allowing the two more time to themselves.

As they walked clouds began to collect on the sky above Aruwen, but not quite overcast for the sun's light to be completely dulled. Duke still put his hat on, but left the glasses to Elucifer's care.

"I thought about what you said earlier. Mother says my hair sometimes glows, but I think it's just because she is my mother. I doubt it truly glows."

"It does not. I apologize for ruining that for you."

Duke chuckled. "Now, what was that about the Child of the Full Moon?"

While they continued to amble about in the orchard the Entelexeia spoke about the Children, their connection to the Adephagos, and that the royal family of the Empire was related to them. But after that, Elucifer noticed the crestfallen expression Duke wore, instead of the usual wonder he'd react with with every story he told. Thoughtfully he patted his friend's back, and his eyes caught sight of the puffy white clouds floating high above the land.

"Duke, look," Elucifer suddenly pointed up to the sky, and Duke's gaze followed, "a mushroom."

"Where?"

"How can you not spot your favorite flora?" He said in a teasing tone, complete with a smile. The scowl that followed was enough to reassure he was doing the comforting right.

"Mushrooms aren't my favorite. I just happen to look at them-" 

"It's a toadstool on the sky."

"I can't spot one."

"I believe you will spot it if I fly you up to the sky."

Duke glanced at his friend with wide eyes.

  


/**/

  


They had gotten out of the orchard after leaving regards for the Baron Gottwald and all but sprinted back to the Pantarei manor to drop off their goods before telling everyone they would be outside the city for a short while. Both armed with swords and blastia (at which Elucifer laughed, he didn't need the blastia at all) they fled to a clearing in the forest where Elucifer safely turned back to his true form. He even lowered his back for Duke to climb over.

Duke felt his friend's feathered wings flap down forcefully, and reflexively he ducked and clutched even closer, his entire body tensing. A whimper escaped him as he cracked an eye open to see the green tops of trees just below his feet. Elucifer must have heard him make little noises of terror as they flew higher and higher.

"Don't worry, Duke. I won't drop you."

"I-I haven't f-flown before. At all," he said while relaxing his death grip just by a little, his hands still clutched at large plumes under his palms.

"Humans don't possess wings. It is perfectly natural to feel fear." Elucifer spun in the air before suddenly and quickly corkscrewing upwards. Hollers of a melange of anxiety and thrill came out from the human currently holding onto him for dear life.

"Elucifer, I..."

That voice was a little soft. "What is it?"

"I think I might... I might vomit."

"Don't get them on my beautiful feathers!"

"I'm... trying... not to... hrrp..."

Duke retched forwards, breathing heavily and hugging his friend's neck while Elucifer slowed his pace down to fly leisurely over the treetops and mountain peaks. A few minutes later, Duke finally recovered enough to open his eyes and sit back up to watch the beautiful world rush by under them.

They were high up enough, as high as the tallest peak of the mountain range. Splotches of differing colors decorated the land below. The deep greens of the forest. Earthy browns on small patches of plains and on some bald parts of the mountains. The yellows and browns of the farmland just outside of a city of full of brick red and lapis blue and clay brown. Random oranges and pinks on big and tightly clustered flowers. The sea that looked so serene so far away was a wonderful cerulean, never-ending cerulean, little lines of white appearing and slowly disappearing. Elucifer flew over sea now, and he watched Illyccia disappear to his right and Weccea and Hypionia appear to his left.

"It's so pretty..." 

He looked up and saw clouds--clouds!--rapidly approaching. Hands left the feathers and reached out to touch one. He'd always imagined clouds to be cottony, soft, but he didn't expect the wispy nature of it, dispelled by the waving of his hands. It also felt pleasantly cold to the touch. Forgetting everything he reached out to the cool white puffs and wisps floating in air.

Outwards he stretched, too fascinated by touching a cloud, something surely no one else had done, expectations crumbling as the truth of clouds being wet white vapor revealed itself to him. Oh, how he would be one of the only humans to feel the stuffs that dot or blanket the sky...!

He abruptly lost balance while reaching to touch a cluster of wisps too far away. His hands fruitlessly found purchase in Elucifer's feathers as he fell, tearing handfuls of them off his friend as he screamed his name. Utter alarm gripped his heart, feeling it stop beating, as he felt the wind whoosh past his rapidly falling body, arms and legs flailing helplessly as he looked at the approaching sea. Before he could even all completely he felt his body land softly on something, stopping his fall, and when he opened his eyes he was safe again, on Elucifer's back.

"Elucifer!" He finally breathed in, pressing his face on his friend's warm body and wrapping his arms around his neck.

"Are you fine?"

"I-I'm okay," he replied, and all of a sudden his head began to spin, "I think I'm ready to puke, but... that was, oh, that was so much fun."

"I am glad to have allowed you flight and thrill, but several feathers torn off me was not my idea of fun, heh."

"I apologize about that."

"It's alright. Let's go back. Your household may be waiting."

  



End file.
